1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave oven and a method of controlling the same, and more particularly to a microwave oven which can discriminate the frequencies of input powers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, microwave ovens are devices which heat/cook foods using microwaves. Each of the microwave ovens has various driving devices such as a high voltage transformer and a magnetron, and is supplied with power from the outside so as to operate the driving devices. However, frequencies of powers supplied from the outside can be different according to installation environments. In general, microwave ovens use an alternating current (AC) power of 50 or 60 Hz.
A microcontroller which controls the overall operation of a microwave oven with respect to a cooking operation is installed on a circuit board within a body of the microwave oven. The microcontroller controls an operation of the driving devices according to a cooking menu set by a user and carries out the cooking operation. In addition, the microcontroller counts time based on an inputted power frequency and calculates a cooking time.
Conventional microwave ovens are each produced to correspond to the frequency of a specific power. Therefore, a microcontroller installed within a body of a conventional microwave oven performs a control operation corresponding to only one of the 50 Hz and 60 Hz AC powers. As a result, the microcontroller must calculate a cooking time based on a preset power frequency.
However, if the power whose frequency is different from that of the preset power is supplied to the conventional microwave oven, the microcontroller still calculates and measures the cooking time based on the preset power frequency which is different from the input power frequency. This, in part, results in a deterioration of the reliability of the microwave oven.
Therefore, there is a need for a microwave oven and a method of enabling a microcontroller of a microwave oven to discriminate the frequency of a supplied power from the frequency of a preset power, where the frequency of the power supplied from the outside is different from that of the power preset in the microcontroller.